Remember when music blogs happened? Wow that was a great moment. It was 2003 for me – I lived on the North Shore so EXCUSE ME – but when I finally did get at them, shit got obsessive. Taking notes continuously, name-checking sites gratuitously, and ostentatiously inserting their finds into whatever conversations I could to dole out my new cultural currency; hundred-dollar bills shaped like Menomena, Malajube, Tapes ‘N Tapes, Ra Ra Riot, Dungen… I was a total twit. (I am still a total twit.) Like those first rapturous, grasping and breathless party-pashes of teenage-hood, it felt like me and my peers had discovered something that had never been found or tried before. With the cynicism of age comes the realisation that this wasn’t the case – but man was it exciting at the time.

In Australia, I feel like a lot of us still spend a lot of time overcompensating for our isolation and the subsequent cultural lag; trawling through the most esoteric blogs we can find, constantly on the lookout to break news of the next big Brooklyn band or Iceland’s latest export. A lot of incredible new music to which great local stations have been devoted  has been our prize – but the flip side is we still seem to be favouring foreign creations at the expense of what’s happening around us.

Today started with the release of Volume Three of New Weird Australia, an exceptional free bi-monthly mixtape project that has continued to outdo itself. Put together by founder Stuart Buchanan (presenter of the namesake show on FBi and EP of Creative Sydney), it’s the second mix that’s been co-authored by Danny Jumpertz of the legendary Feral Media. It’s a meticulously curated exploration of left-field sounds – surreal, sublime atmospherics through to experimental electronic pop through to ten minute noise jams, all seamlessly ordered, and all from our very own shores. The tracklist and files are all here, but also go through the back issues, featuring Kyu, Telafonica, Ghoul, No Art, Karoshi and a bunch more we never knew existed.

Australia’s doing stuff too, you guys. Come listen.

—++—

NEW WEIRD AUSTRALIA :: VOLUME THREE

1. Jeff Burch :: Untitled 1 (The Western Hour)

2. AFXJIM :: Through The Woods

3. 48/4 :: Hlibt

4. The Singing Skies :: September

5. K Mason :: Of 2 Evils

6. Alps :: Goosebeak Whale

7. Drive West Today :: Anthropology

8. Adam Trainer :: Corrosion Party

9. Comatone :: They Fall Freely

10. Zeal :: Wasps

11. Namatoke :: A Mountain With A Secret

12. Lecter Macabre :: Granelli

13. Bum Creek :: Fast Forrest

14. Anon :: Quiver Crura Quaker

15. Erasers :: Lost///Found

16. Pompey :: Actual Locks

—++—

Posted by steph in Music, News

Tags: 48/4, Adam Trainer, Afxjim, Alps, Anon, Bum Creek, Comatone, Creative Sydney, Danny Jumpertz, Drive West Today, Erasers, FBI, Feral Media, Jeff Burch, K Mason, Karoshi, Kyu, Lecter Macabre, Namatoke, new weird australia, No Art, Pompey, Stu Buchanan, The Singing Skies, Zeal